When Is the Word “Love” First Used in the Bible?

by Steve Ray on April 6, 2017

When is the first time the word love is used in the Bible? It is great fun to ask a million questions when you open the Bible. Good questions serve to unlock the treasure chest revealing untold riches.

Since the Bible is a book and books are made of words, it is great fun to see how God uses words and where they are placed in the sacred text. Nothing is random or by chance with the words of God.

When you search for the word love it first appears in the story of Abraham and his beloved son Isaac. As you read this verse ask yourself “Does this verse sound familiar — maybe similar to a well-known New Testament verse?”

After these things God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” He said,Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. (Genesis 22:1–2)

If John 3:16 came to your mind, then you had the same reaction that I did. God loved His only begotten Son.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

These passages belong together — calling back-and-forth to each other for a reason. God gave us a human story of a father sacrificing his only son so we would understand His great sorrow when sacrificing His only Son whom He loved.

The word love was saved for this crucial moment to describe the love of a father for his only son. Abraham prefigures God the Father as he takes his son to Mount Moriah for the sacrifice.